Minjee Lee overtakes Karrie Webb after 20 years at the top of Aussie golf

The 19 year old Perth golfer finished in sixth place at the Arkansas Championship on LPGA Tour on the weekend, lifting her from 17th to 16th in the world rankings; while 40 year old Webb moved from 16th to 18th.

Lee, a member of Golf Australia’s rookie squad, turned pro in September 2014 and won her first LPGA event, the Kingsmill Championship, in May.

Clearly destined for great things, Lee has long been a fan of Webb, arguably Australia’s greatest ever golfer. The feelings have been reciprocated with Webb quick to offer her support and mentorship to the youngster.

As Golf Australia’s Martin Blake wrote this week, the changing of the guard at the top of Australian women’s golf is golfing history in the making.

The women’s world rankings have only run since 2006 and while several players – Katherine Kirk and Lindsey Wright – have threatened Webb’s status as Australia’s No. 1, no one has managed it. Both Wright and Kirk had moments when they reached the top 20, but the relentless Webb has hovered around the top 10 for most of those years.

Actually, Karrie Webb’s time at the top goes back much farther, arguably as far as 1995 when she won the Women’s British Open by six shots. That was her rookie year as a professional in Europe, and she was an overnight sensation, the great Australian player that this country craved after the retirement of Jan Stephenson.

Then in 1996 she moved to the LPGA Tour and won four tournaments as a rookie, and secured the LPGA money list title in her first year. By 1999 she was winning major championships, of which there have been seven so far, as well as five Australian Opens.

She is a member of the World Golf Hall of Fame and many people believe her to be the greatest golfer of either gender that this country has produced.

Yet she was never ranked No. 1 in the world officially, because no world rankings were in place at the time she was dominating. Plainly at some point of that period from 1995-2006 she would have been, with the great Annika Sorenstam as her main rival. In the four years from 1999-2002 the Queenslander won six majors, but by the time the world rankings were formalised in 2006, Sorenstam was the dominant player, on her way to 10 majors.

The Swede was No. 1 on the first-ever world rankings and Webb not even in the top 10; by August of 2006 there had been so much controversy about the rankings that there was a change to the formula, and by then, Webb had won her seventh major, holing out with a 100-metre wedge in California, the signature shot of her career. She soared to No. 3 in the world, but she never reached No. 1.

Webb has continued her world class play beyond the time when other world No. 1 players, Sorenstam and Lorena Ochoa for instance, stepped away from the game. Her recent lull has coincided with a swing change and the arrival of a new coach, Mike McGetrick, but she is still one of the best in the world.

As recently as this year she was tied-seventh in the Women’s PGA Championship and second in the Evian Championship last year, both majors. Her game has suffered scarcely at all, and her stated aim is to make Australia’s Olympic Games team for Rio de Janeiro next year.

As for her relationship with Lee, it goes back to Golf Australia’s Karrie Webb scholarship, which Lee won along with her rival Su Oh in 2013. It was the same year she won the first of two Australian amateur titles, and the year after she won the United States girls’ title.

At the US Women’s Open at Sebonack in the Hamptons area, Lee and Su Oh, her rival from Melbourne, spent time with Webb, playing some practise rounds and watching the way she prepared.

Lee and Webb, who could see the raw talent on display, formed a strong bond. Then in July, 2014 they represented Australia together at the International Crown teams event, which Lee found herself playing because she was the second-highest Australian player on the world rankings, although she was just 18 and not even a professional.

They beat the vaunted South Korean pair IK Kim and Na Yeon Choi in one match and Webb was delighted. “Just really proud of her performance,” Webb said. “It’s fun to watch and we’ll be watching it for many years to come.”

When Lee, a member of Golf Australia’s rookie squad of young professionals, won the Kingsmill Championship, her first win in America, one of the first congratulatory text messages was from Webb.

Being the fierce competitor that she is, Karrie Webb will be prickled by the fact she is no longer the top dog. But part of her, undoubtedly, will feel some pride as well.

As for Lee, she is the Next Big Thing of women’s golf, a potential new rival for the likes of Lydia Ko and Inbee Park, who have exchanged the world No. 1 ranking this year. Watch this space.

Brian is an award winning golf writer and is the founder and editor of Australian Senior Golfer. He is a former Sydney journalist who had little interest in golf till he hit his first ball at the age of 49 (and a half). Since then golf has just about overtaken his life. Brian founded ASG in April 2008 and has since covered every Australian Open, Presidents Cups, World Cups and numerous other big men’s and women’s tournaments, spending days inside the ropes with the likes of Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson, Rory McIlroy, Jordan Spieth, Tom Watson, Fred Couples, Greg Norman, Adam Scott, Jason Day, Karrie Webb, and many others. He has also played in, and reported on, numerous amateur tournaments, particularly senior and veteran events, around the country. Brian is a member of the Australian Golf Media Association and won the award for Best News Report for 2016 - 2017